What Happens When Your TV Goes Blank?

Paul Almeida, president of the AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees, points out that even though millions of people do not have the capacity to receive digital television, Congress blocked bills that would have delayed the switch from analog.

On Feb. 17, 2009, millions of America’s workers and their families, including rural, low-income and elderly citizens, will be left with blank TV screens. Don’t call the repairman. Contact your members of Congress.

Feb. 17 is the date that television stations stop using analog signals to broadcast and switch to digital. If you have an analog TV set and use an antenna or rabbit ears, you must buy a converter box, a digital TV or subscribe to cable or satellite service to receive programming—at a time when the public has fewer resources than ever to buy the necessary equipment.

The government has run out of the federally subsidized coupons to help pay for the converter box—and there still are millions of people on the waiting list.

In recent weeks, there were attempts by Congress to delay the transition to digital. But the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce failed twice in the past week to approve a digital TV (DTV) delay bill. House officials agreed on Jan. 26 to put the previously passed Senate version up for a vote. That vote was scratched on Jan. 27 but back on Jan. 28. That day, House Republicans defeated delaying the DTV deadline four months by a vote of 258-168.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration cannot tell accurately how many homes will lose TV reception on Feb. 17. Conservative estimates say more than 2 million.

If your screen goes blank, remember why—and e-mail your members of Congress here.

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